Retailers & End-Users

In certain circumstances organisations may apply for an FSC trademark licence to use the FSC trademarks.

This allows the use of the FSC trademarks for off-product, promotional use only.

Is my organisation eligible for a trademark licence?

Organisations eligible to apply for an FSC trademark licence include:

Retailers who buy finished, FSC labelled products and sell them on unchanged to end-users (e.g. the general public)

Organisations that wish to promote their use of FSC certified products in their activities e.g. a company using FSC certified packaging for their products.

Consultants, training companies and investment organisations working within the environmental sector

Parent or holding companies that own several FSC certified companies or branches

Are the products I sell eligible to be promoted under a trademark licence?

An FSC trademark licence will allow you to use the FSC trademarks promotionally: on websites, in catalogues and other marketing materials. It does not enable you to apply the FSC label to any product or its packaging, or pass FSC claims onward through the supply chain.

To qualify for promotion as FSC certified, the products or product packaging must:

Be bought directly from an FSC certified company (not via an uncertified supplier)

Be fully finished i.e. you do not change the product in any way. The only exception to this is adding the contents, e.g. sandwiches, to the packaging

Carry the FSC label on the product or packaging, visible to the consumer without breaking the pack open

Also,

The end user must be the ultimate consumer of a finished product, for example the general public or a school, i.e. not a company wishing to make further claims about the products or their use of them

Do I need FSC certification or a trademark licence?

If you are engaged in any of the following activities and wish to use the FSC trademarks you will need to become FSC certified:

Manufacture or change the composition (e.g. mixing or adding forest-based materials to the product) or physical integrity (e.g. re-packaging, re-labelling) of products sold with FSC claims

Apply an FSC label to products

Sell FSC certified products with claims on your sales documents

Sell on to any organisation downstream who may wish to make FSC claims or sell the product on as FSC certified